Latvia imposes state of emergency in border region with Russia

Latvia has imposed a state of emergency in the border region with Russia in response to Moscow's partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine.

The regulation allows access to additional resources to protect the border in case more people from the Russian side try to enter the Baltic country.

The special regime will apply for three months from September 28 in several districts in the east of the EU and NATO country - including border checkpoints such as airports and train stations.

The government in Riga also decided Tuesday to close the Pededze border crossing to further reduce the influx of Russian citizens. In addition, the border guard was instructed to increase surveillance of the region, according to the State Chancellery.

The Interior Ministry said the situation on the Latvian-Russian border is calm and under control. But with the mobilization, the number of Russian citizens who wanted to leave their country had increased significantly. Therefore, there was a risk that the number of illegal migrants could also increase rapidly, it said.

In response to Russia's war against Ukraine, Latvia, along with Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, recently stopped entry for many people from the neighbouring country, even if they had valid Schengen visas.

According to the Interior Ministry in Riga, a total of 57 Russians have been refused entry since the regulation came into force on September 19. Since then, 2,475 Russians have entered Latvia legally via the land border, and 2,332 have left the country for Russia.

In addition to Russia, Latvia also borders Belarus. A state of emergency has been in force in the border region with the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic for more than a year. The state of emergency was imposed in August 2021 because thousands of migrants tried to cross the EU's external border illegally from Belarus.